PAUL NI EHANS (1882–1971)
Paul Niehans was born and raised in Switzerland. His father, a doctor, was dismayed when he entered the seminary, but Niehans quickly grew dissatisfied with religious life and took up medicine after all. He first studied at Bern, then completed an internship in Zurich.
Niehans enlisted in the Swiss Army in 1912. When war erupted in the Balkans, Niehans set up a hospital in Belgrade, Yugoslavia. The war provided him the opportunity to treat numerous patients, gaining a firsthand knowledge of the body and its workings. Since 1913, Niehans had been intrigued with Alexis Carrel’s experiments concerning the adaptive abilities of cells, though Niehans himself specialized in glandular transplants and by 1925 was one of the leading glandular surgeons in Europe.
Niehans referred to 1931 as the birth year of cellular therapy. That year, he treated a patient suffering from tetany whose parathyroid had been erroneously removed by another physician. Too weak for a glandular transplant, the patient was given injections of the parathyroid glands of steer, and she soon recovered. Niehans made more injections, even experimenting on himself, and reported he could cure illnesses through injections of live cells extracted from healthy animal organs. He believed adding new tissue stimulated rejuvenation and recovery.
Niehans treated Pope Pious XII with his injections and was nominated to the Vatican Academy of Science following the pope’s recovery.
Niehans remained a controversial figure throughout his life. As of 2000, the Clinique Paul Niehans in
Switzerland, founded by his daughter, continued his work.
Resources
Center for Cell and Gene Therapy. Baylor College of
Medicine. 1102 Bates St, Suite 1100, Houston,
Texas 77030-2399. (713) 770-4663. <http://
www.bcm.tmc.edu/genetherapy>.
